Parent Conference

So I finally had our first parent-teacher conference a few days ago with Joshua's teacher. Going into it I thought it would be kind of blah since she already told me he was doing well. It actually turned out pretty interesting.

First, the good stuff. Academically Joshua's ahead of the game, which we knew. The funny part was that she showed me his initial kindergarten testing and there were a couple of random things he apparently didn't know, such as his last name:) He says he really thinks he didn't know it and considering he didn't know his birthdate until recently, I'm thinking that might be true!

The really great thing is that she says he is really kind, polite, and well-liked by his classmates. She talked about how much he loves and tries to look out for Thinh, which is so awesome to see that God is really working in him to help him love others even when I'm not there to guide him! Mrs Jozwiak said no one is kinder to him than Joshua.

Other positive things were that he participates well in class and she verified that he does indeed sing, which has always been like pulling teeth for me to get him to do! She said he is confident and seems to enjoy being there. She said you'd never know that he was so afraid of coming to kindergarten.

She did tell me about a few things that he could work on. One was being patient when he wanted to show them his work or tell them something. He struggles with that when there are only our three kids around so I can only imagine how he does when there are 26! She also confirmed my fear that he was in fact tormenting them with his talking:) She said she laughed so hard one day when she gave him something, he said "Thank you!" and he didn't hear her respond to him with "you're welcome." She said he followed her in circles around the class saying, "I said 'Thank you!' I said 'Thank you!' " until she told him "you're welcome." Welcome to my world, Mrs Jozwiak!

Something from the beginning of school that was really interesting is that in the first few weeks, she said that if Joshua wanted to do an activity and it wasn't his turn, he would often make really angry scribbles on a paper to get out his frustration. I had no idea. But with me he wants to shout to get out his frustration, so it's good he found a slightly less disrespectful way to deal with it. And I know a lot of that frustration was him trying to handle this big change of starting kindergarten. His teachers said he doesn't do that anymore.

There were a few academic things that Mrs Jozwiak felt Joshua could work toward, yet when I tried those things at home this week, he really could do it (like writing a story). I figure out that he's just distracted at school and just wanting to do what he can to be done and move on, so I'm trying to get him to understand he needs to do his best. It's just kindergarten, but it's a good life lesson to not make a pattern of being a slacker!

So overall, I was so pleased to hear that the social and character aspects of Joshua's development are going so well and I'm looking forward to seeing how he grows and how the Lord teaches him when we are apart. It is hard, but I am trying to trust God with this and not feel like making Joshua into the person he is meant to be is all in my hands. And I used to think that him going to school would not leave any time for me to teach him, but again God has blessed us for following him in this decision. On our way to school every day, we are praying together and talking about life lessons and it's better than being at home because I can't put it off and my "pupils" can't run away!

We're headed to Joshua's class for a Halloween party on Monday so I'm sure I'll have more stories from kindergarten next week! Also, just took some pictures of our half-painted walls and cabinets so I'll upload soon.